FordMuscle attended the start of this year's Gumball 3000, which got underway at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco, CA. This was the third offical running of the Gumball 3000, its' second running in the United States. The event is billed as a "drive" across the country with five stops for parties styled for rockstars, hollywood types, and the effortlessly rich. However, there are a few innocent commuters from Marin (north of San Francisco) that will beg to differ that this is just a "drive". The CHP was flooded with 911 calls only 15 minutes into the 5 day event. Some reported being passed by unknown Italian sports cars at 120 MPH driving on the shoulder. Five racers were jailed in Marin county that night. Report from KTVU.com.

Others, including FordMuscle, will dispute claims that the Gumball 3000 is only for rich playboys who have never turned a wrench and don't blink at $200/hr mechanics. Report from Salon.com. Two Southern Boys from North Carolina brought their passion to the event with garage modified Ford musclecars, dreams of wide open cross-country driving, and outlaw fantasies. We covered the work in progress of Kevin Mikelonis of North Carolina in January as he was preparing his 1972 Gran Torino. (See Gumball Gran Torino)

When we met up with Kevin in San Francisco his car was no longer a work in progress but a work of art, high tech electroncis, and pure Ford V8 muscle. Tech TV was their to cover the high tech equpiment installed on the classic. FordMuscle noticed the Gran Torino was also sporting a North Carolina license plate which read "Mr. Guts". For those of you who know the movie original, "Mr. Guts" was a character played by Gary Busey. The Gumball Rally, 1976. However, Busey drove a white 1970 Camaro. Mikelonis was reminded of the discrepancy when a Texas Ranger pulled him over 3 days into the race and cynically pointed it out. Not many drivers take on the Gumball 3000 alone. Kevin was joined this year by co-pilot Tommi Kukkonen of Finland, making the #178 Gran Torino the car of "Team Guts".

The other Ford muscle car in this years Gumball 3000 is car number 77, a 1966 Mustang fastback. The brilliant blue 2+2 features a host of suspension and chassis modifications making it perform on par with the BMW and Porches in the field.

The "Team Guts" #178 Gran Torino and the #77 Mustang Fastback were both main attractions in front of the Fairmont Hotel. When positioned against the reoccuring profiles of Ferraris, Lambroghinis, and Porsches these Fords really popped. A quick survey of the crowd surrounding the two Fords told us that today classic Ford muscle has greater mass appeal than the $200K+ European sports machines. Just an hour before the race began a cameo appearance from San Francisco's Mayor Willy Brown set the crowd into a roar, proving that most of the drivers and onlookers were drunk with excitement. The cars then set off for a one hour parade lap around San Francisco with a special trip down the famous Lombard Street , the most crooked street in America. A few drivers were ticketed with excess speed within city limits. Both of our featured drivers were able to control themselves until they got out of the San Francisco Bay Area, less this little outburst from "Team Guts" and their Gran Torino prior to the parade lap.

All drivers were supplied with a race booklet prior to leaving San Francisco, which they were required to have stamped at certain locations along the course to Miami. The racers exited San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge heading for their first checkpoint in Reno, Nevada. Participants were not expecting much hoopla in Reno since the stop was only a checkpoint. That changed when an awaiting crowd of more than 2,500 Gumball fans lined the illuminated downtown strip. The crowd, conditioned to see only "exoticars", went into a frenzy when the 1972 Gran Torino and 1966 Mustang Fatsback cruised in with contrasting style and sound. The resonation of their Ford V8's breathing easily through flowmasters had an affect on the crowd that the European dream machines could not match. Red carpets lined the sidewalks for arriving drivers which lead to lavish parties on top of Reno's finest casinos. Team Guts reported leaving San Francisco at 8:30pm in 136th position and arriving in Reno at 11:00pm in 19th position. Drivers left Reno headed for Miami and the required stops inbetween. FordMuscle will be back to report the highlights including this alleged statement from Alabama Police. "Gumballers are banned from our State, any Gumballer who crosses state lines will have their car impounded and spend a night in jail." F/M